Thursday, May 28, 2009

Big decission

It's 4 p.m. and the girls are still napping.
Wake them up? Or keep reading gossip web sites?

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Spaz Attack



Here's part two, just so you all see I didn't let my child fall on her head.



And in case you're riveted enough to want to see how it ends:



Happy 18-month birthday, Bellie Bells.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The day we climbed a mountain

I admit, it wasn't my brightest moment, but last Sunday I thought it would be fun to take the girls to Cowles Mountain.

(To all you out-of-towners, Cowles is a hiking mountain about 5 minutes away from our house. It's almost always packed with runners, hikers, families and dogs!)

Marina and Ella LOVED it right away. The climbed up the trail with no problem whatsoever. Marina interjected sayings along the way like "this is a tough hike!" and "we're going so high!"

Ella only stopped to wave at dogs and fellow toddlers.

It was all going so well and we got about 1/4 up (which is impressive for one mom and two kids under age 3, ok?).

We stopped for a snack of water, bananas and apples and everyone decided it was time to head back down.

And then it was trouble city.

Marina wouldn't let go of my hand and walked suuuper slow. Which was fine. But Ella was much too excited about the prospect of going downhill to go slow.

Ella ran down the hill, ignoring the jagged rocks and slippery dirt. I kept imagining her falling and cracking her head on one of the rocks and I'd be standing on the mountain with a bleeding baby and Marina not letting go of my hand.

So I caught up to Ella, pulling Marina along. Whenever there were stairs or a steep section, I'd hold Ella's hand.

Only Ella kept screaming "NO HANDS." (Though when she says it, it sounds like "NO ANDZZ.") And she threw herself on the ground many, many times.

I kind of took it personally, like, really? You'd rather cover yourself in dirt and rocks and snot than hold my hand for just one minute?

Yes. The answer is yes.

All these people looked at Ella, then looked at me and more than one hiker asked if I needed help.

Help?

Help is why we're in this situation in the first place. If you can figure out how to get my almost 18-month-old to accept your help, then by all means, help!

Finally, I had to carry screaming Ella and pull whiney Marina down the rest of the way and let me tell you, hikers may be nice and all, but they aren't too good with noise.

So. Many. Evil. Eyes.

We got to the bottom and as soon as they saw the water fountain, it was like nothing ever happened.

"That was fun!" Marina said.

And looking back at it, yes, it really was fun.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Saturday in the park with Ella





(Yes, those are Crocs. But for the record, I did not buy them.)

Friday, May 8, 2009

We're okay

I just wanted to say that yesterday my company laid off almost 200 people. Both Matt and I still have jobs and I appreciate everyone who reached out to make sure we were all right.

The thing is, my department got hit pretty bad. The man who promoted me, the man who helped shaped my writing and my boss were all laid off. So were some very good friends.

Everyone says I should get out of the industry, but the truth is I still love newspapers.

When I went to see Titanic, I always figured I'd be like Kate and Leo and get the hell off the doomed boat. Who knew I'd actually be more like those musicians who stayed and played until the very end.

I only hope that the bottom is still a long way away.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Just your typical Wednesday afternoon



(Grass skirts courtesy of Mima, who, mind you, refused to let me get a job at Hot Dog on a Stick, which, by the way, is where all the cool girls worked, because she had a problem with the uniforms.)

Sunday, May 3, 2009

8K in 8 minutes

I guess Marina really can teach her dad how to run.
Who else can cross an 8K (5 mile) finish line after eight minutes?



But if you look closely, it's Ella who kicked everyone's ass.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

The teacher and the student

Me: "Marina, what classes do you want to do when you're three?"

Marina: "Um, ballet class. And swimming. And basketball. And running."

Matt: "Uncle Barnaby and I can teach you basketball."

Marina: "And Soccer."

Matt: "I can teach you soccer in the backyard."

Marina: "And I can teach you how to run, Daddy."

Friday, May 1, 2009

My night out

I'm sorry for the work jargon but:
I am uploading these photos on Cost of Beans because I need to post them for work. Only, I do not have Photoshop on my computer and Blogger can size them down to what I need.

So here you all get to see Derrik's very arty photos of the local music scene. We went to The Black Mamba CD release party and it was really great.

Casbah lights and rat tail.



Dancing to Morrissey.



Christmas in April.


My new favorite band, The Paddle Boat.